Wednesday, October 28, 2015

This week's book, the second part of the Captain's Log series is titled Soundings in Fathoms and Feet. This poem is handwritten on a depth soundings map... as was the previous Captain's Log entry. In this case, the map is a digital copy of a vintage December 18, 1976 map of the ocean around the Bahamas Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The original map, measuring 30 inches by 56 inches, has been reduced to 14 x 17 inches. The book can be stored rolled up as a scroll or tacked to a wall, just as a utilitarian map might be posted.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

This week's book, How Low Can You Go? is actually one part of a series titled Captain's Log. The series is inspired by several 20- to 40-year-old nautical maps of the Florida Keys, Bahamas, and areas around the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. How Low Can You Go? is a poem that focuses on Key West, Florida.. However, it might be about a wider area. The poem was handwritten on a digital print of one section of a 27-year old depth soundings map of the Intracoastal Waterway between the Florida coast, Sugarloaf Key, and Key West, Florida. When maps are involved, one tends to think the boundary lines and landmarks are actually independent of each other... but often the perceived differences that labels create are only imagined... or simply a matter of perception.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The book-of-the-week for Week 40 is a small accordion book titled On Sammy's Street. The cover paper was hand-marbled and the title plate was handwritten with Sharpie® marker and colored with watercolor pencils. A yellow satin ribbon wraps the tall, thin 9 by 3-inch book and ties with a bow at the midline.

The front cover board and a satin ribbon

Open the covers and see a folded, single-page map inside.

opening

Inside the covers is a black and white lithograph print of a map, hand colored with watercolor pencils and with text handwritten with Sharpie® marker. The story is centered on a 16-month-old's memories of his small world of four streets, a golf course, and a park.

a bird's eye view of the route to the park...

a close up of the map and it's story

Neighborhoods are geographical areas that are essential to people's lives. Everyday life occurs in neighborhoods. Routines, comfort, and a sense of identity are all integral parts of neighborhoods. When a child is very young, the neighborhood is practically their whole world. The sights, smells, and feel of that first neighborhood are often imprinted on the subconscious of a person for their whole life. The story of a first neighborhood will often be a magic key to the choices, fears, and preferences experienced in later life, long after the first neighborhood is years in the past.

On Sammy's Street doesn't have a great plot. There are no chase scenes and no romantic episodes. There is no mystery and the characters are not fleshed out. The story is told in the stilted simplistic language of a 16-month old child, Sammy. He takes about Mommy and Daddy,Pop-pop, and Gram Kathy. His biggest accomplishments are pouring water into his pool, eating cherry tomatoes he picked himself, and driving his little red plastic car. His adventures are going to the park in his blue wagon or going along when his Daddy and Pop-Pop play golf. There is no real danger in this neighborhood. It is filled with natural beauty and places to play and find joy. Sammy is a pretty lucky little guy. Hopefully, all of his neighborhoods will be this way.

About Me

I have found that using the book form as art is like a deep well for expression, emotion, story telling, imagination, and creativity. I have my own etching press and letterpress and love adding print and design to the palate of poetry and prose. However, my definition of what is a book is much broader than paper and ink and is somehow held not in materials but in the content of the story told.